Andrei: A Dark Mafia Romance (Dark Mafia Kingpins Book 1)

by Naomi West

  “And if he says no?”

  “Then, I guess it’s just you and me against the world.”

  42

  “Get dressed.”

  “In what? My pajamas?” Cora asked.

  “No. I bought you some clothes, remember?” I got up and walked over to the closet. It was a walk-in with more than enough space for both our wardrobes. “The left is all yours.”

  Her jaw nearly hit the ground. “Wait, when did you buy all this?”

  “When I realized I would make you mine.”

  She stepped forward and ran her fingers along the different fabrics. “These are gorgeous… All of this must have cost you a fortune.”

  I shrugged. “Is it a crime to want to make my girl look good?”

  “So, I can wear any of this?”

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to.”

  Cora laughed. Her whole face lit up with a sheen of happiness that I had yet to witness. How was it that this girl managed to be so beautiful and yet unaware of the fact? She didn’t flounce herself around or act with an air of loftiness as some other girls did. Cora was just… Cora.

  “Choose whatever you’d like but nothing too sexy—I’d rather save those for when we’re alone,” I said with a wink.

  “Okay, give me a minute. There’s a lot to choose from here.”

  “Take your time.”

  I grabbed a suit of my own and put it on in the bathroom, giving Cora the privacy she deserved. I was just finishing up with my tie when she appeared in the doorway. She looked absolutely stunning. The sweater knit dress hugged her curves to utter perfection and accentuated the shape of her body. The off-the-shoulder design directed my attention up to her beautiful face, and I couldn’t look away.

  “You look beautiful.”

  Her cheeks colored in a soft shade of red.

  “And now you look even more beautiful.” I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Shall we?”

  Yuri was once again in his office. He had the money machines running. Yuri was a man who liked to double and triple check, and since this money accounted for our future, I didn’t blame him for wanting to make sure everything was just right.

  “Andrei,” he said as soon as we stepped into the room. “And who might this be?” He turned off his machines and got up, holding out his hand in Cora’s direction.

  “Cora,” she introduced herself, shoulders rolled back and head held back. “It’s a pleasure.”

  He offered a smile. “The newest member of the Valeri family.” To my surprise, he was studying me more than he was studying her.

  Did he sense that this was different—that she was special?

  There had been other girls, but none of them filled me with the electric charge that Cora did. None of them made my heart thump like a racehorse. None of them even came close to being half the woman she had already proven herself to be.

  “We need to talk to you about something,” I said to get the conversation going.

  “Please, sit down.”

  Cora and I took a seat on the couch while Yuri settled into the loveseat. He had that intense look on his face that was always present when he understood that something big was about to happen.

  “Go on,” he prompted. “What is it that you need to tell me?”

  “Cora has brought it to my attention that Lorenzo has two more girls left at the warehouse. At the time of the deal, I only thought to save Cora because to take all three girls seemed like a deal that Lorenzo would never agree upon. Plus, there was the matter of rounding up the necessary money.”

  Yuri turned his head slightly, observing Cora. “Has he not told you?”

  “Hmm?”

  “We are hoping to move away from this lifestyle and towards one that it a bit more sustainable, both for us and for generations to come.” He seemed to be implying something there.

  Is he saying that Cora and I would one day have kids together?

  Sure, I had dreams of becoming a father, but now was not the time to be thinking of such things.

  “In any case, we needed a certain lump sum to establish a legitimate business because no bank wants to loan money to a mafia.”

  “I see.”

  “I don’t mean to bore you with the details, but I thought you had the right to know given your new position in the family.”

  “Position?”

  “As Andrei’s girl, of course. Everyone will treat you with the utmost respect because of it. He’s the second in command.”

  She glanced in my direction, but I just kept a straight face. I was a man that believed in modesty.

  “Last I checked, we came here to discuss Lorenzo,” I said, trying to veer the conversation back on track. “Something needs to be done about those two girls.”

  Yuri nodded. “What Lorenzo is doing with these women, frankly, I find disgusting. It goes against the mafia code of honor.”

  “Wait, the mafia has one of those?” Cora blurted out with a look of disbelief.

  “Of course,” Yuri answered. “It’s what keeps everyone in line. Without it, these streets would be plagued with all-out warfare.”

  “I guess I never thought about it that way.”

  “But Lorenzo is a blight to the system, and his volatile personality has no place in this town. He only thinks he’s the big bad wolf because he’s got a little mafia legacy behind him.”

  “But this town is an MC town,” I interjected. “And Lorenzo’s hold is tenuous. His stupid risk-taking is unnecessary and will draw down the attention from the authorities on everyone around him if he isn’t stopped—including us.”

  Yuri held my gaze. “There is no need for you to convince me, Andrei. I already know that he needs to be stopped. I tried to tell myself that there was no need for us to get involved, but if we aren’t the ones to stop his reign of tyranny, then no one else will.”

  “Then it’s settled?”

  “I’ll leave it in your capable hands as your father would have wanted.”

  I nodded. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t.”

  43

  And so, with Cora’s help, we planned a raid on Lorenzo’s warehouse.

  “Tell me everything you know about the place—layout especially.” I had a piece of drafting paper laid out in the conference room. Usually, family meetings were held here, but tonight it was all about taking down the biggest dick in town.

  “I don’t know all that much. It was always so confusing when I first got there…”

  “Even the smallest of details will help us now. Anything that you can remember, tell me.”

  “Alright,” she agreed.

  She started with the dorm since that was what she was most familiar with. I drew out a smaller square on the paper and labeled it with all the information she was giving me. After about an hour of combing her mind, we had exhausted our resources, but I had a pretty good idea of the layout.

  Lorenzo sat at the top and took care of business on the bottom levels. What lay between, we weren’t sure of, but it hardly mattered. We planned to go about this in the stealthiest way possible. If all went accordingly, we would fly under the radar, and no one would get hurt.

  “Anything else?” I asked as I straightened out my posture. Doing so, my back cracked.

  “That’s all I can remember, unfortunately.” She stood behind me and started to rub my shoulders. I hadn’t asked for for a massage, and yet she had taken it upon herself to try and ease some of my tension as soon as she saw it.

  “And you’re sure that there weren’t any guards circling the perimeter of the dorm?”

  “I never saw any through the window, and I always kept a lookout whenever they brought me over to the main building in case there ever arose an opportunity for me to run away.”

  “Hmm, why would he skimp out on security like that?” I thought aloud. “It doesn’t make any sense, especially since the guy knows that everyone is looking his way. There has to be something we’re missing here.
”

  “Maybe he’s just that stupid,” Cora whispered. “He’s not Yuri—with perspective and calculating. He’s much more of a brute. He probably thinks of it as an alpha male sort of thing. Why hire protection when he can protect himself?”

  I considered it. Lorenzo was a thick-headed jackass.

  “As far as I can tell, there’s the driver, Donny, and then the two guys that bring food into the dorm.” Her voice shook with anger.

  I took hold of her hand and laced our fingers together. “I know you’re worried and that you probably want to bash their teeth in, but if this is going to work, I need you to keep cool. No matter what happens, you can’t let any of this get to your head.”

  She breathed through her nose, nostril’s flaring.

  I gave her hand a squeeze. “Cora, look at me.”

  She did.

  “If what you’re saying is true, then this might be easier than I originally thought. Two idiots and a driver—that I can handle.”

  Cora nodded. “And in terms of visitors… there’s not many of those either. Aside from yourself, there’s a fat, old mafioso and a few low-level drug dealers.”

  “Okay.” I nodded, taking this information into account. “This helps. Lorenzo is just the man behind the curtain. He wants everyone to believe that he’s this big bad leader, but it’s all just bluster. That’s why he bought those guns from us. He doesn’t have an army he needs to outfit; he just needs to make us think that he does.”

  “I don’t get it. If he’s really as weak as you say he is, then why is he still in power? Why does Donny, who could eat him for breakfast, bother to listen to him?” Cora added a few additional details to the map.

  “What’s that?”

  “Just a path. I’ve never been led down it before, but it has to lead somewhere, right? I figure it can’t hurt to include it.”

  I nodded. “You’ve been a great help, Cora.”

  “I just want to see this fucker go down.”

  “You and me both.”

  “So, you never answered my question.”

  “You mean why people bother to listen to Lorenzo?”

  “Mhm.”

  “Well, Lorenzo’s family was once powerful. They practically ruled the city. It was a pretty hostile environment with thieves and double-crossers at every corner. You had to constantly watch your back because you never knew when someone might end up stabbing you in it.”

  Cora poured out a shot of whiskey and handed it over to me. It was like she could read my mind or something.

  “Thanks.”

  “So, what happened?” She held a glass of wine between her fingers and twirled it around as she waited for my answer. A morbid sort of curiosity dance behind her irises.

  “Well, Lorenzo’s father disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?”

  “He liked the ocean, perhaps a little much. Everyone knew that he frequently took trips on his yacht to exotic islands, but that didn’t mean that his little fortress was left unguarded. He had plenty of men to defend the home base. They were faithful—soldiers that would die for the cause. And to try and attack while the boss was out of town was considered cowardly.”

  Cora listened with the utmost attention.

  “Then, one day, we all realized that the don was never coming back. We don’t know whether he perished at sea or if he’s getting a suntan somewhere. All we knew was that he wasn’t coming back.”

  “How could you be so certain?”

  “He hated his son. He would never let him take over unless, of course, he had no say in the matter.”

  “Oh?”

  “Most leaders train their offspring to take over. Think of it as a family business. My father did the same to me.”

  “And yet, Yuri is in charge?”

  “He was adopted by my father and, as far as he was concerned, had the same right to the ‘throne’. Shortly after my father’s passing, we both agreed that Yuri was the better equipped of the two of us. He has a knack for rounding everyone together and keeping the flock in line. I’m more of the soloist. So, it works.”

  “This mafia stuff is way more complicated than I could have imagined,” she said after taking a sip of her wine.

  “You have no idea.”

  “So, Lorenzo’s own father hated him? That’s kind of sad.”

  “If I had to guess, Lorenzo was never the son he wanted.”

  “Still.”

  “Don’t go sympathizing with the enemy,” I warned. “Or when push comes to shove, you won’t be able to pull that trigger.”

  “Who said anything about pulling a trigger?” She raised her eyebrow.

  “You aren’t going in there unarmed. Should something happen…”

  “I’ve never fired a gun before.”

  “Well, you’re going to learn, but let’s hope that you aren’t forced to use it.”

  The color drained from her face. “No, Andrei, I can’t—”

  “You can, and you will. Maybe the last rats have fled the ship but Lorenzo is still a threat, and if you get cornered by any of his goons and I’m not there to protect you, then I at least want you to have the ability to protect yourself.”

  44

  Yuri hustled the Valeri soldiers into place. All together we had three vans’ worth of guys. Maybe it was overkill considering that Lorenzo only had a couple of guns holding down his club, but it was always better to be safe rather than sorry.

  “Thanks for allowing this,” I said.

  “There’s no need to thank me. Once we take out Lorenzo and his goons, we’ll be done with him once and for all. We’ll be doing all the other clubs in the area a massive favor, and it might even help with our legit business.”

  “You mean if we get on everyone’s good side?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Yeah, that’ll definitely be a plus,” I agreed.

  Yuri closed the door to the final van. “Well, that’s everyone. They are ready to ride out just as soon as you are. They’ll follow on your tail.”

  I nodded. “No time like the present, right?”

  “Right.”

  With Yuri’s blessing, I returned to my car, where Cora was already waiting for me. I had considered leaving her behind with the capo, but she would serve as my secret weapon tonight. One, she would help me navigate the warehouse whenever needed, and two, she would help bring out the girls in one piece. Cora was a familiar face that they trusted. Without that element, they were sure to put up one hell of a fight.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked as soon as we had eased onto the road. “You’re not having any second thoughts, are you?”

  “Not a chance,” she answered.

  “Good.” I smiled. “Seems like you’re much more courageous than I ever gave you credit for.”

  “I wouldn’t call this being courageous. I am simply doing what needs to be done to help my friends.”

  My smile deepened. “I know that most people think of mafias as horrible organizations, and they are, but the mafia honor code, as Yuri called it, is really quite noble. We always stick by our family, and we never leave anyone behind, no matter how dangerous it is to retrieve them.”

  “So, does this make me a member of the mafia?”

  “Only for the night because, after tonight, I’m hoping to put all this behind me, and when I do, I hope that you will remain by my side.” I placed a hand on her thigh and gave it a slight squeeze. “But only if you want to, that is.”

  “Do you mean that once this is over, I’m no longer your property?”

  “That’s right. The Valeri family is abandoning our life of crime, and owning someone was abolished a long, long time ago.”

  “Abe Lincoln is probably rolling around in his grave.”

  “Probably.”

  I glanced over at the beautiful girl sitting in my passenger seat. She was making me feel so damned tongue-tied. There was so much I wanted to say to her, but all of it remained locked inside my chest. I guess it was just a matter
of telling her once we returned and the deed was done.

  The drive was short—too short. We pulled up to the warehouse and killed our engines. Everyone filed out, sticking to the darkness.

  “Mind you stay close to me,” I whispered. “And you still have your gun, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Loaded?”

  “Yes.”

  “You remember how to shoot it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright then; let’s get this over with.”

  I gave the signal, and two of my men broke down the door facing the waterfront. Everyone walked in. Cora and I made our way to the front of the ground, flanked by some of my best soldiers.

  The warehouse was eerily quiet, but there was a chink of light coming out from underneath the private club’s door. I had become familiar with that door during my negotiation proceedings with Lorenzo. Music thrummed in the background. Hopefully, it had been loud enough to mask the noise of our break-in.

  We waited for a beat to see if anything would happen, but the warehouse remained quiet.

  I pointed towards the door, and my men headed straight for it.

  “They’ll take care of Lorenzo. Let’s go find your friends,” I instructed in a soft whisper to Cora.

  She nodded once and turned towards the dormitory.

  Outside, the wind was rough, and the waves kept crashing against the stone walls that surrounded the place. I noticed the path that Cora had noted on the map, but I couldn’t quite tell where it would lead to.

  We reached a dented metal door that looked like it had been through World War II or something.

  “This,” she said, “is our problem. You can’t break it down like some of the other doors.”

  Without much thought, I took out my gun and shot the lock off the door. “And now it’s not a problem anymore.”

  “Jesus, are you trying to make me go deaf or something?” she reprimanded as she held her hands to her ears. “And a little bit of warning would have been nice, thank you.”

  “Always expect the unexpected.”

  If looks could kill, I would have died ten times over with the one she gave me.